News about California Public Libraries

Menu

” As National Library Week begins April 9, the Trump administration and Republican Party have launched an unprecedented attack on the institution by submitting a zero budget request for the Institute for Library and Museum Services.ILMS Director Dr. Kathryn Matthew notes that $214 million of the $230 million budget goes directly to grants to state and local libraries, including $155 million distributed through a population-based formula grant.Library advocates, including urban librarians, who recently met at the Brooklyn Public Library, are torn between their own needs and a variety of other cuts, ranging from fuel assistance to Medicare, which affect the populations they serve.Other agencies which advance knowledge and creativity, such as the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities and Corporation for Public Broadcasting, get similar short shrift. More than 100 representatives have signed on to a “Dear Appropriator” letter to the House Appropriations Committee to restore ILMS funding. However, similar appeals are coming from a variety of interests, creating a “resistance roulette” designed to have those constituencies cannibalize each other.”